Dynamic Mechanical Properties and Long-term Deformation Behaviour of Viscous materials (EMRP-Project MeProVisc)

Thursday, September 13, 2012, 19:15
Room Zugspitze

The measurement of layer thickness of polymers is difficult, since many polymers are transparent and hence difficult to measure by optical methods but at the same time difficult to measure for tactile instruments like stylus instruments or scanning force microscopes due to their softness. Measuring the layer thickness of a polymer layer on Silicon using a conventional stylus instrument easily leads to systematic deviations of the measured film thickness of several hundred nanometres. Thus there is an immediate industrial need for new and validated measurement methods capable of high-resolution dimensional and mechanical property mapping of viscous materials. Viscous materials (such as polymers) continuously deform over time. This not only makes polymeric parts subject to dimension change that limits their useful lifetime, but invalidates current measurement methods, which assume a time independent material response. MeProVisc (http://www.euramet.org/fileadmin/docs/EMRP/JRP/JRP_Summaries_2010/IND05_Publishable_JRP_Summary_v2_LEB.pdf) will provide validated indentation and contact measurement methods to measure the shape, mechanical properties and deformation rate of viscous materials. Project outputs will be directly input into relevant International Organization for Standardization (ISO) committees as the basis for new ISO EN standards and adoption by all.

At this stakeholder meeting attendants will be informed about the state of the art of viscous material mechanical properties measurement methods and the aimed methods used by project participants, and more importantly, participants will be able to present their own ideas and needs in short concerning this subject. Each talk will consist of five minutes presentation and five minutes discussion:

Join us by contacting the MeProVisc project partners: MeProVisc@npl.co.uk